white dwarfs
Binary Stars Live Complicated Lives, Especially Near the End
We know what will happen to our Sun. It'll follow the same path other stars of its ilk follow. It'll…
A New Kind of Stellar Explosion Has Been Discovered: Micronovae
The most energetic explosions in the Universe come from stars called supernovae. These galactic bombs have the energy of about…
You can Tell how big a Black Hole is by how it Eats
Astronomers can determine the size of a black hole by the way it consumes nearby matter.
A Nearby White Dwarf Might be About to Collapse Into a Neutron Star
A white dwarf star has been found that's more massive than our Sun, but about the same size as our…
Our Part of the Galaxy is Packed with Binary Stars
Binary star systems are everywhere. They make up a huge percentage of all known solar systems: from what we can…
Much of the Lithium Here on Earth Came from Exploding White Dwarf Stars
The Big Bang produced the Universe's hydrogen, helium, and a little lithium. Since then, it's been up to stars (for…
Rocky Planets Orbiting White Dwarf Stars Could be the Perfect Places to Search for Life
Some very powerful telescopes will see first light in the near future. One of them is the long-awaited James Webb…
Astronomers See Space Twist Around A White Dwarf 12,000 Light Years Away
The theory of general relativity is packed with strange predictions about how space and time are affected by massive bodies.…
Neptune-Sized Planet Found Orbiting a Dead White Dwarf Star. Here’s the Crazy Part, the Planet is 4 Times Bigger Than the Star
Astronomers have discovered a large Neptune-sized planet orbiting a white dwarf star. The planet is four times bigger than the…
Dead Planets Around White Dwarfs Could Emit Radio Waves We Can Detect, Sending Out Signals for Billions of Years
A new study by a pair of astronomers has shown that planets orbiting white dwarfs will still be emitting radio…